People

The University employed 5,563 people in 2013 and budgeted $199 million in personnel costs for the fiscal year 2013-14. Approximately 1,600 staff and faculty hold ongoing positions, and a number of University employees are represented by various union locals (see Bargaining page for further details).

With a projected deficit of $20 million in 2014-15, the University initiated a number of strategies to achieve a balanced budget consistent with a motion passed by the Board of Trustees in October 2013. Program reviews, value-for-money reviews, use-of-space reviews, lean process and advancement initiatives, Strategic Mandate Agreement negotiations and alternative revenue generating ideas have all been initiated. However, with nearly 70 per cent of the University’s operating budget dedicated to personnel costs, the reality is that people will be affected by decisions required to balance our budget.

Establishing priorities from a long list of important initiatives intended to support our stakeholders is not an easy undertaking, but clearly the most difficult of the decisions reached are those that will affect people. While every effort has been (and will be) made to address staffing levels through attrition and redeployment, some positions and the people who hold these positions will be affected.

In these circumstances, the University will take all reasonable measures to respect those impacted by these decisions and will honour its contractual and legislative obligations.